The present invention relates to extrusion-based 3-D printers, termed fused deposition modeling or fused filament fabrication printers, in general and more particularly to printers using a printhead which applies layers of thermoplastic (e.g. ABS, HDPE, PLA, PVA) a metal or metal containing carrier, or polymers and composites that are doped with a variety of secondary materials such as wood and carbon nano-tubes to create models, prototypes, patterns, and production parts.
Fused filament fabrication works on an “additive” principle by laying down material in layers. This technique was initially developed by S. Scott Crump in 1989 and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,329. Initially such printers were extremely expensive, purchasable only by large companies, or accessible by outsourcing a 3-D model file to a fused filament fabrication printer or a competing technology, such as stereolithography as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,330. Recent interest in fused filament fabrication has been increased by the development of consumer models of such printers of much lower cost. The development of low cost alternatives has been fueled by the expiration of U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,329 and the decreasing cost of high precision and reliable motors, motor controllers, and other key components required by fused filament fabrication printers.
A US patent application entitled Three-Dimensional Printing System Using Dual Rotating Axes, to Thomas Mackey, Nathan Patterson, Benjamin Cox, Nathan Schumacher, and George Petry, filed in 2012 (Mackey et al.) shows a rotating build platform and rotary mounted printheads.
Fused filament fabrication, i.e. three-dimensional printing, in addition to providing three-dimensional models or parts for conceptual design studies also allows the manufacturing of functional items or tooling. Patterns for various metal and plastic casting technologies can also be formed. Typically, a plastic filament or metal wire is unwound from a coil and supplies material to an extrusion nozzle that can start and stop material flow. The nozzle is heated to melt the material and can be moved in both horizontal and vertical directions by a numerically controlled mechanism which is often directly controlled by a computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software package. The model or part is produced by extruding small amounts of thermoplastic or other material to form layers as the material hardens immediately after extrusion from the nozzle. Tools for thermoforming and injection molding can be made, as well as fixtures which assist the manufacturing operation. In addition to providing for very low run manufacturing operations, art objects and display objects can be readily manufactured. Improvements of fused filament fabrication printers requires an increase in printing speed, printing with multiple materials, and lower printer costs.